Staging a home once meant adding accessories, props and even furniture to a home for sale, to create a feeling of warmth and appeal, and make it easier to sell. Today, staging a home still connotes rearranging possessions and furniture, but in more and more cases, the furniture and accessories are digital rather than real, a very cost effective alternative.

What is virtual home staging and how is it done? This new addition to the more traditional sales techniques used to market a home, focuses on taking a photo of the home as is and then dressing it up. The “after” photos of the home’s interior are created using virtual furniture, wall colors, pictures, window coverings and other décor to help potential buyers visualize a home’s possibilities.

With real home staging, furnishings and draperies need to be purchased, transported and then arranged in the home, in hope that the stager has accurately gauged current decorating trends and design techniques to catch a buyer’s eye. Unfortunately, the homeowner or the stager’s taste may or may not appeal to all buyers.

Today, virtual home stagers can embellish empty-room photographs taken and submitted by agents and owners with images of sofas, dining tables, area rugs, draperies and artwork. If one set of furnishings doesn’t quite capture the look, there’s no need to return the drapes. It’s easy as clicking a computer mouse to change the entire look.

However, there are some things most virtual staging companies won’t do for a homeowner. According to most virtual staging websites, statements of ethics reiterate that the companies will not add non-existent landscaping, wet bars or appliances, or erase power-lines or other detractions from photos. These companies also require customers to tell buyers and agents that the rooms are virtually staged, so a buyer’s expectations are realistic.

Virtual staging is easy enough on the seller’s end. Most websites simply require photos of the vacant listing and offer results usually within three to five business days. Sellers and agents can then add the photos to brochures, MLS pages, and websites.

It is recommended that the rooms immediately visible upon entering the house are staged. Other priorities are the kitchen, master bedroom, and master bathroom. For the best staging results, high quality pictures taken in a well-lit room are most desirable. For more information or to view photo galleries, you can visit VirtualStagingSolutions.com or VirtuallyStagingProperties.com.

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Americans spend millions of dollars on the water they drink, and not just for bottles of Evian. We spend countless dollars each year in search of just the right home water treatment system. In fact, according to an association that monitors water quality, one out of every ten Americans now uses a home water treatment unit, so it’s a good idea for real estate professionals to know a little bit about the various units. These units can range from simple pitchers to costing less than twenty dollars to sophisticated whole-house water filtration systems costing several thousand dollars.

There are a variety of reasons homeowners purchase a home water treatment system. Some people use this feature to improve the taste of their tap water. Others are looking to treat their water because of health concerns. Drinking water can reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants, picked up as the water journeys from its original destination into water purifying stations and eventually through plumbing systems and out the tap. As long as contaminants remain at levels no higher than EPA standards, our water is considered safe to drink.

Some contaminant levels remain constant throughout the year, while others vary according to the season, weather or from house to house. For example, lead typically makes its way into the water supply when it leaches from lead pipes and solder that are in some homes. If water comes from a household well, the EPA recommends annual water testing for nitrates and bacteria.

Different treatment systems will vary greatly in price, performance and look. A water treatment device can be rather free-standing home water treatment device. Most water pitchers use granular-activated carbon and resins to bond with and trap contaminants. These filters are effective at improving the taste of water, and many will also reduce lead and other contaminants.

Filters attached to a faucet or installed under the sink:
These filters use the same technologies as pour-through pitchers. Some filters use fabrics, fiber, or ceramic screening to physically remove contaminants. The most common types use a molded block of activated carbon. These filters are effective at improving at improving the taste of tap water, and some will also reduce lead, protozoan cysts and many other contaminants.

Distillers: Distillers heat water to the boiling point, and then collect the water vapor as it condenses, killing disease causing microbes and leaving most chemical contaminants behind. Distilled water tastes flat to some people because the water’s natural minerals and oxygen often have been removed.

Reverse Osmosis Units: Reverse osmosis units force water through a semi-permeable membrane under pressure, leaving contaminants behind. Reverse osmosis units use a significant amount of water. They recover only a small percentage of the water entering the system and the remainder is discharged as waste water, but they are effective in eliminating disease-causing organisms as well as most chemical contaminants.

Aerators: Aerators force water to travel over air jets. Contaminants easily turn into gases, such as gasoline components and radon, are removed. Other contaminants are not. The water may additionally filtered after it passes through its system to remove additional contaminants.

Water Softeners: Water softeners use sodium chloride or potassium chloride to reduce the amount of hardness (calcium, magnesium) in water. The hardness ions in the water are replaced with sodium or potassium ions. Ion exchange water softeners simultaneously remove radium and barium while removing water hardness.

Whole House Filters: The whole house water system looks similar to a typical hot water heater and can supply filtered water throughout the entire home. Different companies use various techniques to filter the water. Most whole house systems also soften or condition the water, many doing so without the use of salt, chemicals or magnets. These systems generally use carbon for filtration, but each company has their own, unique process to soften water, some using ions and minerals to accomplish the job.

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Every season, lawn will be challenged by, varying temperatures, drought conditions or crazy insects. You should realize that even the best turf will stress and thin and this is why you need to aerate and seed annually.

Ever wonder what problems may be lurking unerneather your house? In this video by Preston Sandlin of Home Inspection Carolina he shows some problems he find in the crawl space of and old farm house in Monroe NC. Thes problems include high moisture contentent, open wasteline, wasteline with an impropper slope, impropper support piers, floor joists supports without hangers or ledger board. The last concern is the snake skin and where might be the owner of that!

Do you have high moisture in your crawl space? Will a sealed crawl space fix it? Yes it will but how does it work. A “normal vented” crawl space actually pulls in more moisture if there are air conditioning ducts there. By sealing off the vents you are preventing new moisture from coming into the crawl. The plastic completely covers the floor and part of the foundation walls and piers. There is no insulation in between the joists but on the side walls. The air conditioner actually blows into the crawl to create a conditioned space. The downside is that you can’t see evidence of termites and that sealing a crawl with a professional sealing company is rather expensive. Please wath the video by Preston Sandlin of Home Inspection Carolina in Charlotte NC to see an example of a sealed crawl space

Moisture in a crawl space is bad news. It can cause a host of problems including but not limited to undermining the foundation and footers. Moisture is also a conducive condition for termites. We all know the damage those guys can do. Another big time problem with moisture in the crawl is mold and mildew. Chronic moisture can lead to toxic mold or sick house. Its usually in the best interest of the house to keep the crawl space dry. The next question is where does the moisture come from. Sometimes the moisture comes from poor drainage and or poor topography of the land around the house. Sometimes the Moisture comes from poor to no ventilation. Poor ventilation can be a compound problem when joined with condensation. These are the usual suspects when a crawl space has high moisture. Every once in awhile though there is something very odd like a storm drain draining into the crawlspace! In this video Preston Sandlin of Home Inspection Carolina shows us a storm drain that empties into crawl space of a townhouse in Lake Norman NC. Where do your storm drains empty?

Do you have high moisture in your crawl space? In North Carolina it is considered high moisture if the moisture content of the floor joists or subfloor is 20% or greater. This is considererd condusive conditions for termites and for fungus. There are multiple causes and multiple fixes for high moisture in the crawl. Some are simple and some are complex. The fixes are sometimes inexpensive to very costly. Every house is different. Today I want to talk about one of the simplest reasons for high moisture which also has a very simple and inexpensive fix. This is disconnected dryer vents. I would say about 1 in 8 house in my market, (Charlotte NC, Concord NC, Lake Norman NC, Fort Mill SC) has a diconnected dryer vent. This lets that warm moist air flow freely into your crawl. Fungus and termites love the condition this causes. Have you checked to see if your dryer vent is diconnected lately?

Do you have trim damage? Do you have soft wood around windows and doors? What happens here is water gets in behind the wood where it’s not primed or painted, then the pourous wood will suck it up and it will cause damage. Moisture in wood is also attractive for termites. After the moisture has been there awhile the wood rots and sometimes carpentar ants will also settle in and shell out some of the wood for their nest. How does the water get in? It usually comes in at joints in the trim and joints between the trim and the siding. Wood expands and contracts as the weather changes. After a few expansions and contractions the caulk can no longer seal the gap. Then a hard rain and in comes the water. The solution is to replace any damaged wood and then caulk, caulk, and caulk. Check all the joints annually and caulk where necessary. Remember to caulk, caulk, caulk.

Have you ever had bats, squirrels, or other rodents in your attic? This is probably the result of not having screens or not having adequate screen coverage. Often flood lights attract bugs which attract bats. If these bats get in your attic they poop. The poop can carry disease and parasites. You have to get the bats, birds, squirrels, or any other critters out of the attic and then put screens to exclude them from coming back in. In some cases (especially with bats) you may actually have to put the screens on the outside. (to keep them from hanging on the gable slats) Many well meaning homeowners try to cover their gable vents with plasic. These vents are necessary for attic ventilation. Clear the plastic and keep the screens. We want the air but not the critters.

We all know the real estate market is a little depressed right now. Heck the news media will not let us forget it. Which one is causing which? Ever notice that in history many recessions corrospond with election years? Check it yourself, I am not kidding. Is it because of uncertainity about the future or is the media perpetuating something? Oh well I don’t profess to be a political science expert (infact I made a “C” in my one and only political science class in college) I am actually a home inspector in Charlotte NC. I am writing of something proactive a charlotte real estate agent did to combat the market doldrums. Holly Pasut of Charlotte NC “Team Holly-Would” contracted a stretc hummer limo to take a tour of her listings. On this tour she took 24 of Charlotte’s top real estate agents, a mortguage guy and home inspector (yours truely). The group had dinner after the tour. We all discussed the pluses and minuses of each property. We alo talked of forming a group to do this sort of thing regularly. Its this “Outside the box” marketing that just might create a buzz and sell some houses no matter what the news media says.